Demand for pet hotels and sitters surges during holidays
burgeoning pet industry. According to a report published by online pet forum Goumin, the number of pet owners reached 73.6 million last year, and they had 91.5 million dogs and cats — which make up the majority of pets.
The country’s dog and cat owners spent an average of more than 5,000 yuan per pet last year, an increase of 15 percent from the previous year, according to the report.
Luxury pet hotels and resorts have also sprouted up in Chinese cities, especially first-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, catering to pet owners who are willing to spend big bucks on their pets.
The high-end pet hotels feature better facilities, including air conditioners, air purifiers and round-theclock surveillance cameras, as well as various types of pet entertainment such as movies and massages.
After failing to find pet hotels or friends to take care of his cat before Spring Festival, Wang Bo, who works for a company in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, turned to a cat sitter for help.
He found one on a classified advertisement website. The cat sitter, who charged 80 yuan a day, agreed to feed and clean his cat for half a month and send him a video of the cat once a day.
“The pet hotels near my home were booked out, so this is my only choice,” said Wang, who called himself a or cat slave.
“But this may not be the safest choice. I didn’t sign any written contract with the cat sitter or ask to check his health certificate. In some sense, the health of my cat depends on the cat sitter’s sense of responsibility.”
He added that most of his friends relied on recommendations from other pet owners to find reliable pet sitters.
Chen Hongguang, a law professor at Anhui University, said, “Pet sitting is still an emerging industry in China and is in need of standardization. In order to avoid risks, pet owners should sign a contract with pet sitters beforehand.”